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At least 1,495 records · Page 83
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Nanoscale Structure–Property Relationships of Polyacrylonitrile/CNT Composites as a Function of Polymer Crystallinity and CNT Diameter

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/carbon nanotube (CNT) composites are used as precursors for ultrastrong and lightweight carbon fibers. However, insights into the structure at the nanoscale and the relationships to mechanical and thermal properties have remained difficult to obtain. In this study, molecular dynamics simulation with accurate potentials and available experimental data were used to describe the influence of different degrees of PAN preorientation and CNT diameter on the atomic-scale structure and properties of the composites. The inclusion of CNTs in the polymer matrix is favored for an intermediate degree of PAN orientation and small CNT diameter whereas high PAN crystallinity and larger CNT diameter disfavor CNT inclusion. The glass transition at the CNT/PAN interface involves the release of rotational degrees of freedom of the polymer backbone and increased mobility of the protruding nitrile side groups in contact with the carbon nanotubes. The glass-transition temperature of the composite increases in correlation with the amount of CNT/polymer interfacial area per unit volume, i.e., in the presence of CNTs, for higher CNT volume fraction, and inversely with CNT diameter. The increase in glass-transition temperature upon CNT addition is larger for PAN of lower crystallinity than for PAN of higher crystallinity. Interfacial shear strengths of the composites are higher for CNTs of smaller diameter and for PAN with preorientation, in correlation with more favorable CNT inclusion energies. The lowest interfacial shear strength was observed in amorphous PAN for the same CNT diameter. PAN with ~75% crystallinity exhibited hexagonal patterns of nitrile groups near and far from the CNT interface which could influence carbonization into regular graphitic structures. The results illustrate the feasibility of near-quantitative insights into macroscale properties of polymer/CNT composites from simulations of nanometer-scale composite domains. Guidance is most effective when key assumptions in experiment and simulation are closely aligned, such as exfoliation versus bundling of CNTs, size, type, potential defects of CNTs, and precise measures for polymer crystallinity.

Materials Science↗
DOE OSTI2014

Wave packet and statistical quantum calculations for the He + NeH{sup +} → HeH{sup +} + Ne reaction on the ground electronic state

A real wave packet based time-dependent method and a statistical quantum method have been used to study the He + NeH{sup +} (v, j) reaction with the reactant in various ro-vibrational states, on a recently calculated ab initio ground state potential energy surface. Both the wave packet and statistical quantum calculations were carried out within the centrifugal sudden approximation as well as using the exact Hamiltonian. Quantum reaction probabilities exhibit dense oscillatory pattern for smaller total angular momentum values, which is a signature of resonances in a complex forming mechanism for the title reaction. Significant differences, found between exact and approximate quantum reaction cross sections, highlight the importance of inclusion of Coriolis coupling in the calculations. Statistical results are in fairly good agreement with the exact quantum results, for ground ro-vibrational states of the reactant. Vibrational excitation greatly enhances the reaction cross sections, whereas rotational excitation has relatively small effect on the reaction. The nature of the reaction cross section curves is dependent on the initial vibrational state of the reactant and is typical of a late barrier type potential energy profile.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Unveiling the complexity of nanodiamond structures

Understanding nanodiamond structures is of great scientific and practical interest. It has been a long-standing challenge to unravel the complexity underlying nanodiamond structures and to resolve the controversies surrounding their polymorphic forms. Here, we use transmission electron microscopy with high-resolution imaging, electron diffraction, multislice simulations, and other supplementary techniques to study the impacts of small sizes and defects on cubic diamond nanostructures. The experimental results show that common cubic diamond nanoparticles display the (200) forbidden reflections in their electron diffraction patterns, which makes them indistinguishable from new diamond (n-diamond). The multislice simulations demonstrate that cubic nanodiamonds smaller than 5 nm can present the d -spacing at 1.78 Å corresponding to the (200) forbidden reflections, and the relative intensity of these reflections increases as the particle size decreases. Our simulation results also reveal that defects, such as surface distortions, internal dislocations, and grain boundaries can also make the (200) forbidden reflections visible. These findings provide valuable insights into the diamond structural complexity at nanoscale, the impact of defects on nanodiamond structures, and the discovery of novel diamond structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Confinement and Processing Can Alter the Morphology and Periodicity of Bottlebrush Block Copolymers in Thin Films

Bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) are intriguing architectural variations on linear BCPs with highly tunable structure. Confinement can have a significant impact on polymer assembly, giving rise to changes in morphology, assembly kinetics, and properties like the glass transition. Given that confinement leads to significant changes in the persistence length of bottlebrush homopolymers, it is reasonable to expect that BBCPs will see significant changes in their structure and periodicity relative to the bulk morphology. Understanding how confinement influences assembly will be important for designing BBCPs for thin film applications including membranes, integrated photonic structures, and potentially BCP lithography. In this work, in order to study the effects of confinement on BBCP conformation and morphology, a blade coating was used to prepare films with continuous variation in film thickness. Unlike thin films of linear BCPs, islands/holes were not observed, and instead mixtures of parallel and perpendicular morphologies emerge after annealing. The lamellar periodicity ($L_0$) of the morphologies is found to be thickness dependent, increasing $L_0$ with decreasing film thickness for blade coated films. Films coated out of tetrahydrofuran (THF) resulted in a single well-defined lamellar periodicity, verified through atomic force microscopy (AFM) and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), which increases dramatically from the bulk value (30.6 nm) and continues to increase as the film thickness decreases. The largest observed $L_0$ was 65.5 nm, and this closely approaches the estimated upper limit of 67 nm corresponding to a fully extended backbone in a bilayer arrangement. Films coated out of propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PGMEA) resulted in a mixture of perpendicular lamellae and a smaller, likely cylindrical morphology. The lamellar portion of the film shows the same thickness dependence as the lamellae observed in the THF coated films. The scaling of the lamellar $L_0$ with respect to film thickness follows predictions for confined semiflexible polymers with weak excluded volume interactions and can be related to models for confinement of DNA. Spin coated films shows the same reduction in periodicity, although at very different film thicknesses. This result suggests that the material has shallow free-energy barriers to transitioning between different $L_0$ and morphologies, a property that could be taken advantage of for patterning diverse structures with a single material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Design considerations and experimental observations for the TAMU air-cooled reactor cavity cooling system for the VHTR

The Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS) is a promising passive decay heat removal system for the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) to ensure reliability of the transfer of the core residual and decay heat to the environment under all off-normal circumstances. A small scale experimental test facility was constructed at Texas A and M University (TAMU) to study pertinent multifaceted thermal hydraulic phenomena in the air-cooled reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS) design based on the General Atomics (GA) concept for the Modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (MHTGR). The TAMU Air-Cooled Experimental Test Facility is ⅛ scale from the proposed GA-MHTGR design. Groundwork for experimental investigations focusing into the complex turbulence mixing flow behavior inside the upper plenum is currently underway. The following paper illustrates some of the chief design considerations used in construction of the experimental test facility, complete with an outline of the planned instrumentation and data acquisition methods. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out to furnish some insights on the overall behavior of the air flow in the system. CFD simulations assisted the placement of the flow measurement sensors location. Preliminary experimental observations of experiments at 120oC inlet temperature suggested the presence of flow reversal for cases involving single active riser at both 5 m/s and 2.25 m/s, respectively and four active risers at 2.25 m/s. Flow reversal may lead to thermal stratification inside the upper plenum by means of steady state temperature measurements. A Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) experiment was carried out to furnish some insight on flow patterns and directions.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Shield: comparing gas and star formation in low-mass galaxies

We analyze the relationships between atomic, neutral hydrogen (H i) and star formation (SF) in the 12 low-mass SHIELD galaxies. We compare high spectral (∼0.82 km s{sup −1} ch{sup −1}) and spatial resolution (physical resolutions of 160–640 pc) H i imaging from the VLA with Hα and far-ultraviolet imaging. We quantify the degree of co-spatiality between star-forming regions and regions of high H i column densities. We calculate the global star formation efficiencies (SFE; Σ{sub SFR} / Σ{sub HI}) and examine the relationships among the SFE and H i mass, H i column density, and star formation rate (SFR). The systems are consuming their cold neutral gas on timescales of order a few gigayears. While we derive an index for the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation of N ≈ 0.68 ± 0.04 for the SHIELD sample as a whole, the values of N vary considerably from system to system. By supplementing SHIELD results with those from other surveys, we find that H i mass and UV-based SFR are strongly correlated over five orders of magnitude. Identification of patterns within the SHIELD sample allows us to bin the galaxies into three general categories: (1) mainly co-spatial H i and SF regions, found in systems with the highest peak H i column densities and highest total H i masses; (2) moderately correlated H i and SF regions, found in systems with moderate H i column densities; and (3) obvious offsets between H i and SF peaks, found in systems with the lowest total H i masses. SF in these galaxies is dominated by stochasticity and random fluctuations in their ISM.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Kinetics for the Sequential Infiltration Synthesis of Alumina in Poly(methyl methacrylate): An Infrared Spectroscopic Study

Sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS) is a method for growing inorganic materials within polymers in an atomically controlled fashion. This technique can increase the etch resistance of optical, electron-beam, and block copolymer (BCP) lithography resists and is also a flexible strategy for nanomaterials synthesis. Despite this broad utility, the kinetics of SIS remain poorly understood, and this knowledge gap must be bridged in order to gain firm control over the growth of inorganic materials inside polymer films at a large scale. In this paper, we explore the reaction kinetics for Al 2 O 3 SIS in PMMA using in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. First, we establish the kinetics for saturation adsorption and desorption of trimethyl aluminum (TMA) in PMMA over a range of PMMA film thicknesses deposited on silicon substrates. These observations guide the selection of TMA dose and purge times during SIS lithography to achieve robust organic/inorganic structures. Next, we examine the effects of TMA desorption on BCP lithography by performing SIS on silicon surfaces coated with polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) films. After etching the organic components, the substrates are examined using scanning electron microcopy to evaluate the resulting Al 2 O 3 patterns. Finally, we examine the effects of temperature on Al 2 O 3 SIS in PMMA to elucidate the infiltration kinetics. The insights provided by these measurements will help extend SIS lithography to larger substrate sizes for eventual commercialization and expand our knowledge of precursor-polymer interactions that will benefit the SIS of a wide range of inorganic materials in the future.

Biswas, Mahua↗
DOE OSTI2020

How To Maintain Effective IAEA Safeguards While Reducing Facility Impact

For almost twenty years, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been visiting the K-Area Material Storage facility at the Savannah River Site where excess plutonium has been placed under IAEA safeguards as part of the United States Volunatary Offer Agreement. During that time, the mission of K-Area Complex has expanded from storage of nuclear matieral to glovebox operations in support of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Plutonium Disposition program. With this change in mission, it is becoming increasingly challenging to manage facility staff radiation exposure and operating activities during the IAEA’s annual Physcial Inventory Verifications (PIV). This study has identified both near-term and long-term recommendations for IAEA monitoring protocols that would allow the IAEA to maintain effective safeguards of the material while decreasing the impact to the facility. A statisitical analysis has shown that reducing the number of containers measured during an annual PIV from 12 to 4 still ensures a high level of confidence in the confidence while reducing the inspector time in the facility amd with a corresponding significant reduction in personnel radiation exposure. A modified installation pattern of Remotely Monitored Sealing Arrays (RMSAs) is also proposed utilizing only the outer rows of arrays of stored material containers in the Stack Area (SA). The modified RMSA placement will provide equivalent protection, while significantly reducing personnel radiological exposure, manpower requirements and associated costs. With advances in technology, there are additional potential options in containment/surveillance and continuity of knowledge that would allow the agency to be outside of the facility during PIV measurements and have confidence in the accuracy and authencitity of the results.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2014

Rietveld refinement and dielectric relaxation of a new rare earth based double perovskite oxide: BaPrCoNbO{sub 6}

A new rare earth based double perovskite oxide barium praseodymium cobalt niobate, BaPrCoNbO{sub 6} (BPCN) is synthesized by solid-state reaction technique. Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) data shows that the compound crystallizes in a perovskite like tetragonal structure which belongs to the I4/mmm space group with lattice parameters a=b=5.6828(9) Å, c=8.063(2) Å. Structural analysis reveals 1:1 ordered arrangement for the Co{sup 2+} and Nb{sup 5+} cations over the six-coordinate B-sites of BPCN. The superlattice line (1 0 1) at 2θ=19.10° arising from the alternate ordering of Co{sup 2+} and Nb{sup 5+} sites is observed in the XRD pattern which confirms the presence of cation ordering in BPCN. Fourier transform infrared spectrum shows two phonon modes of the sample due to the antisymmetric NbO{sub 6} stretching vibration. The relaxation dynamics of the conductive process in BPCN is investigated in the temperature range 303 to 503 K and in the frequency range 100 Hz to 1 MHz using impedance spectroscopy. The relaxation mechanism of the sample in the framework of electric modulus formalism is modeled by Davidson–Cole model (DCM). The values of α (distribution of relaxation time) for the DCM varies from 0.1 to 0.3 which suggests the asymmetric distribution of relaxation time for BPCN. The activation energy of the sample, calculated from both conductivity and modulus spectra, are found to be almost the same ∼0.4 eV, which indicates that the conduction mechanism for BPCN is polaron hopping. The scaling behaviour of the imaginary part of electric modulus suggests that the relaxation follows the same mechanism at various temperatures. - Graphical abstract: Rietveld refinement plot for BPCN. Inset shows the schematic presentation of the BPCN tetragonal unit cell. The Co{sup 2+} atoms are located at the centers of the CoO{sub 6} (blue) octahedra. The Nb{sup 5+} atoms are located at the centers of the NbO{sub 6} (green) octahedra. Display Omitted - Highlights: • BaPrCoNbO{sub 6} is synthesized for the first time. • Rietveld refinement of XRD data confirms tetragonal phase. • XRD confirms the presence of cation ordering in BaPrCoNbO{sub 6}. • The activation energy is ∼0.4 eV. • The conduction mechanism for BPCN is due to polaron hopping.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Decomposition of liquid-liquid extraction organic phase structure into critical and pre-peak contributions

Solution nanostructure induced by amphiphile self-association plays an important role in various chemical and physical processes, including liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). Small angle scattering techniques are an essential means of probing this structure, but, due to non-uniqueness of scattering patterns, their interpretation is not trivial. Here, in this study, we decompose small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) patterns for a range of binary LLE organic phases into two components: Ornstein-Zernike and pre-peak contributions resulting from, respectively, critical concentration fluctuations and packing of the amphiphilic extractant molecules in the nonpolar aliphatic diluent. While we previously applied Ornstein-Zernike scattering models to similar organic phases, including the pre-peak explicitly in the fit allows us to measure weak fluctuations at high extractant concentration and simultaneously obtain information on the position and intensity of the correlation peak related to amphiphile packing. Scattering patterns and partial structure factors calculated from molecular dynamics simulations support this interpretation. We demonstrate how this minimal scattering model describes nanostructuring for a large number of extractant types over their entire extractant/diluent composition ranges, suggesting simple and universal behavior. The straightforward assignment of these structural contributions facilitates the comparison of these features between different classes of extractant molecules and will enable further studies of organic phase aggregation. Applicability to more complex, process-relevant organic phases is illustrated with post-contact organic phases containing significant quantities of extracted lanthanide nitrate salt, which we find are readily described by this model.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Harnessing the photonic local density of states in graphene moiré superlattices

In this work we investigate the electromagnetic local density of states (LDOS) near a twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) deposited over a general isotropic substrate. The band structure of the TBG is calculated within a tight-binding framework, and then used to determine the TBG's conductivity. The latter presents a nontrivial dependence upon the angle of twist, which shows up in the LDOS, allowing for a moiré pattern-dependent quantum emission. For some specific twist angles we show that it is possible to either enhance or decrease the LDOS by an order of magnitude at selected frequencies when compared to the monolayer. Furthermore, this impressive variation is explained in terms of the presence/absence of well defined surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Altogether our findings demonstrate that TBG is an alternative, versatile material platform for controlling spontaneous emission and enhancing light-matter interactions, and pave the way for further studies and applications of quantum emission in the emerging class of two-dimensional moiré materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Indium hydroxide to oxide decomposition observed in one nanocrystal during in situ transmission electron microscopy studies

The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) is used to study, in situ, spatially resolved decomposition in individual nanocrystals of metal hydroxides and oxyhydroxides. This case study reports on the decomposition of indium hydroxide (c-In(OH){sub 3}) to bixbyite-type indium oxide (c-In{sub 2}O{sub 3}). The electron beam is focused onto a single cube-shaped In(OH){sub 3} crystal of {l_brace}100{r_brace} morphology with ca. 35 nm edge length and a sequence of HR-TEM images was recorded during electron beam irradiation. The frame-by-frame analysis of video sequences allows for the in situ, time-resolved observation of the shape and orientation of the transformed crystals, which in turn enables the evaluation of the kinetics of c-In{sub 2}O{sub 3} crystallization. Supplementary material (video of the transformation) related to this article can be found online at (10.1016/j.jssc.2012.09.022). After irradiation the shape of the parent cube-shaped crystal is preserved, however, its linear dimension (edge) is reduced by the factor 1.20. The corresponding spotted selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern representing zone [001] of c-In(OH){sub 3} is transformed to a diffuse strongly textured ring-like pattern of c-In{sub 2}O{sub 3} that indicates the transformed cube is no longer a single crystal but is disintegrated into individual c-In{sub 2}O{sub 3} domains with the size of about 5-10 nm. The induction time of approximately 15 s is estimated from the time-resolved Fourier transforms. The volume fraction of the transformed phase (c-In{sub 2}O{sub 3}), calculated from the shrinkage of the parent c-In(OH){sub 3} crystal in the recorded HR-TEM images, is used as a measure of the kinetics of c-In{sub 2}O{sub 3} crystallization within the framework of Avrami-Erofeev formalism. The Avrami exponent of {approx}3 is characteristic for a reaction mechanism with fast nucleation at the beginning of the reaction and subsequent three-dimensional growth of nuclei with a constant growth rate. The structural transformation path in reconstructive decomposition of c-In(OH){sub 3} to c-In{sub 2}O{sub 3} is discussed in terms of (i) the displacement of hydrogen atoms that lead to breaking the hydrogen bond between OH groups of [In(OH){sub 6}] octahedra and finally to their destabilization and (ii) transformation of the vertices-shared indium-oxygen octahedra in c-In(OH){sub 3} to vertices- and edge-shared octahedra in c-In{sub 2}O{sub 3}. - Graphical abstract: Frame-by-frame analysis of video sequences recorded of HR-TEM images reveals that a single cube-shaped In(OH){sub 3} nanocrystal with {l_brace}100{r_brace} morphology decomposes into bixbyite-type In{sub 2}O{sub 3} domains while being imaged. The mechanism of this decomposition is evaluated through the analysis of the structural relationship between initial (c-In(OH){sub 3}) and transformed (c-In{sub 2}O{sub 3}) phases and though the kinetics of the decomposition followed via the time-resolved shrinkage of the initial crystal of indium hydroxide. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer In-situ time-resolved High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Crystallographic transformation path. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Kinetics of the decomposition in one nanocrystal.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Density-wave patterns for fermionic dipolar molecules on a square optical lattice: Mean-field-theory analysis

We model a system of ultracold fermionic dipolar molecules on a two-dimensional square lattice. Assuming that the molecules are in their nondegenerate hyperfine ground state, and that the dipole moment is polarized perpendicular to the plane (as in the recent experiments on {sup 40}K-{sup 87}Rb molecules), we approximate these molecules as spinless fermions with long-range repulsive dipolar interactions. We use mean-field theory to obtain the restricted phase diagram as a function of the filling, the strength of interaction, and the temperature. We find a number of ordered density-wave phases in the system, as well as phase separation between these phases. A Monte Carlo analysis shows that the higher-period phases are usually suppressed in the exact solution.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Photocatalytic property and structural stability of CuAl-based layered double hydroxides

Three types of CuMAl layered double hydroxides (LDHs, M=Mg, Zn, Ni) were successfully synthesized by coprecipitation. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (UV–vis) were used to confirm the formation of as-synthesized solids with good crystal structure. The photocatalytic activity of those LDH materials for CO{sub 2} reduction under visible light was investigated. The experimental results show that CuNiAl-LDHs with narrowest band gap and largest surface areas behave highest efficiency for methanol generation under visible light compared with CuMgAl-LDHs and CuZnAl-LDHs. The CuNiAL-LDH showed high yield for methanol production i.e. 0.210 mmol/g h, which was high efficient. In addition, the influence of the different M{sup 2+} on the structures and stability of the CuMAl-LDHs was also investigated by analyzing the geometric parameters, electronic arrangement, charge populations, hydrogen-bonding, and binding energies by density functional theory (DFT) analysis. The theoretical calculation results show that the chemical stability of LDH materials followed the order of CuMgAl-LDHs>CuZnAl-LDHs>CuNiAl-LDHs, which is just opposite with the photocatalytic activity and band gaps of three materials. - Graphical abstract: The host–guest calculation models and XRD patterns of CuMAl-LDHs: CuMgAl-LDHs (a), CuZnAl-LDHs (b) and CuNiAl-LDHs (c). - Highlights: • Three types of CuMAl layered double hydroxides (LDHs, M=Mg, Zn, Ni) has been synthesized. • CuMgNi shows narrower band gap and more excellent textural properties than other LDHs. • The band gap: CuMgAl<CuZnAl<CuNiAl based on result from UV–vis analysis. • CuMgAl shows the highest stability and lowest photocatalytic activity, while CuNiAl just opposite.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Funding for the 2ND IAEA technical meeting on fusion data processing, validation and analysis

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will organize the second Technical Meeting on Fusion Da Processing, Validation and Analysis from 30 May to 02 June, 2017, in Cambridge, MA USA. The meeting w be hosted by the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC). The objective of the meeting is to provide a platform where a set of topics relevant to fusion data processing, validation and analysis are discussed with the view of extrapolation needs to next step fusion devices such as ITER. The validation and analysis of experimental data obtained from diagnostics used to characterize fusion plasmas are crucial for a knowledge based understanding of the physical processes governing the dynamics of these plasmas. The meeting will aim at fostering, in particular, discussions of research and development results that set out or underline trends observed in the current major fusion confinement devices. General information on the IAEA, including its mission and organization, can be found at the IAEA websit Uncertainty quantification (UQ) Model selection, validation, and verification (V&V) Probability theory and statistical analysis Inverse problems & equilibrium reconstru ction Integrated data analysis Real time data analysis Machine learning Signal/image proc essing & pattern recognition Experimental design and synthetic diagnostics Data management

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Clarification of enhanced ferromagnetism in Be-codoped InMnP fabricated using Mn/InP:Be bilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The p-type InMnP:Be epilayers were prepared by the sequential growth of Mn/InP:Be bilayers using molecular-beam-epitaxy and the subsequent in-situ annealing at 200-300 deg. C. In triple-axis x-ray diffraction patterns, the samples revealed a shoulder peak indicative of intrinsic InMnP. The ferromagnetic transition in InMnP:Be was observed to occur at the elevated temperature of {approx}140 K, and the ferromagnetic spin-domains clearly appeared in magnetic force microscopy images. The improved ferromagnetic properties are attributed to the increased p-d hybridation due to high p-type conductivity of InMnP:Be (p {approx} 10{sup 20 }cm{sup -3}). The results suggest that enhanced ferromagnetism can be effectively obtained from Be-codoped InMnP.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Effect of Al 2 O 3 coating on fretting wear performance of Zr alloy

Fretting wear caused by flow-induced vibration (FIV) is one of the predominant tribological failure modes in nuclear power plants and industry. This paper presents an experimental study of the effect on fretting performance of alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) coatings produced by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Zirlo (a Zr alloy), a common nuclear fuel cladding alloy. A coating with uniform thickness of about 750 nm was deposited onto a Zirlo flat. Because the typical thickness of fuel cladding is 1 mm, an ultra-thin coating is required. The hardness and elastic modulus of the ALD coating were measured by nano-indentation techniques. With a pin-on-flat contact configuration in low-amplitude reciprocating contact, fretting performance was measured for uncoated Zirlo, Al2O 3 -coated Zirlo, and Al 2 O 3 -coated Zirlo followed by heat treatment. Results showed that the as-deposited Al 2 O 3 coating provided slight improvement in fretting wear performance. However, the heat-treated coating showed two orders of magnitude reduction in fretting wear of the Zr alloy. Wear in the uncoated material involves some local plastic deformation and debris accumulation at the contact interface. In the Al 2 O 3 -coated material, wear occurred by transfer of transparent Al 2 O 3 oxide into the steel pin counterface. Localized removal of coating from the Zirlo alloy flat resulted in a “shark whale” pattern in a scanning electron microscopy image. There was minimal debris accumulation with the heat-treated sample.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗